The Colosseum
by Repeated Deja Vu
Summary: Ancient Rome AU fic. Ludwig was captured and forced to become a gladiator in the Colosseum. One day he is forced to fight a prisoner who he can't bring himself to kill and helps him hopefully escape alive.


Ludwig stood at the gate, waiting in anticipation for what the officials had in store for him. He took a deep breath and put his helmet on. As the gate opened he gripped his shield and sword, and then slowly stepped out into the arena. The crowd was yelling wildly when they saw him. Not just because of who he was, but also because of the event that was to ensue. But the gladiator ignored all that. Instead, he glared at the man sitting closest to where the action was to take place. That man, with that idiotic grin on his face, stood for everything he hated. For everything that landed him in a situation of fighting and killing every day, whether it was animals, unarmed prisoners, or another gladiator like himself. He hated it, but it was either this or suffer an even worse fate or death.

Suddenly, the gate on the opposite side opened and his attention was instantly directed towards it. He braced himself for whatever was to appear. If it was a wild animal, he wouldn't have to worry too much about killing it, but if it was human he had to pretend they were less than that. He loathed doing that, but it was that only way he could even bring himself to try and win a fight to the death.

There was a sound of chains and shackles that could barely be heard over the cheering crowd in the Colosseum. A young man dressed in nothing more than rags was brought out by two guards. He didn't have a muscular build like Ludwig's. He had short brown hair, light brown eyes, and looked as if he could be a Roman citizen. The man looked terrified when he saw his opponent, almost to the point of tears. He wondered what someone like him could have done to deserve this punishment.

The guards shoved him to the ground. By that time the young man was crying. The guards laughed at him, spit on him, and kicked him before leaving. Ludwig cringed at the sight. Despite the numerous times he had done this, he still wasn't used to seeing anyone being treated like that even if they were prisoners, but there was something different about this time. This supposed prisoner in front of him looked like he wouldn't do anything wrong, at least not on purpose. Then there was that fact that he was crying, making him seem pathetic. There was no way the gladiator could bring himself to fight or kill this man.

Ludwig tried to dismiss all of those thoughts. This could all just be a trick and that thing standing opposite from him was a horrible criminal, a vicious animal that probably killed several innocent people. Yet no matter how hard he tried to convince himself of this he couldn't. All he could see is the crying man standing before him with a terrified look on his face.

The young man stood up slowly to face Ludwig with tears still running down his face and still terrified. The crowd was still yelling wildly in anticipation as the gladiator stepped forward with hesitation towards the other man. He still tried to imagine the horrible things this man could have done, but the more he thought about it, the more he denied that this man could have done something wrong; especially something horrible enough to justify hurting and killing him.

As Ludwig stepped closer the prisoner prepared to run, but he was just in arms reach of the brunette. He grabbed his arm when he started to run and then threw him to the ground. The young man looked up at him with terror in his eyes. Ludwig stared at his opponent, but couldn't bring himself to kill him. He knew what it was like to be in his place every time he faced another gladiator, and when he had first faced death he was terrified too.

The prisoner fell down on his knees and gripped his leg, "Please don't hurt me! I know you have to kill me, but please make it painless!" He began to cry again.

Ludwig kicked the other man off of his leg and kicked him again in the stomach "You're not even going to try to fight back!"

The prisoner groaned in pain. He rolled over onto his side and held his stomach "S-sorry…"

Ludwig sighed "I should just kill you right now since you seem like you want to die".

The prisoner didn't look at him and kept quiet as the gladiator brought his sword to the man's neck and pressed lightly.

"If you don't at least pretend, I'll kill you now and I won't help you escape" he pulled away his sword, leaving a shallow cut on his neck.

The prisoner held his neck and looked up at Ludwig. He quickly stood up and started running to the opposite side of the arena. The gladiator soon followed thinking of what he could do to help this man escape. There were too many people and too many guards watching. It couldn't be anything too obvious or they would both be dead. _There's always faking his death,_ he thought as he stopped and watched his opponent trip and fall. He sighed and caught up to him just as he was standing up. He swung his sword and managed slash his opponent's side before he tried to run off, making him fall once again.

Ludwig knelt down on one knee and picked the prisoner up by the neck and threw him. His opponent didn't move or make a sound. He walked over to him and kicked him to make sure he was still conscious. When he heard a groan come from the other man, he picked him up once again by the neck and squeezed. The young man started scratching at his hand to make him let go and tried to gasp for air.

He loosened his grip just enough for him to breathe slightly, "I'm not going to kill you, but I need to act like you're dead. They'll drag you away and set you in a pile with all the other people and animals killed today. Don't move until I get there, got it?" The prisoner had a confused look on his face. "Just do it. You don't deserve this because you didn't do anything wrong, right?"

The prisoner nodded slightly then went limp in his hands. Ludwig dropped the prisoner on the ground and stood up ignoring the noise from the crowd. He looked up at the man that always had a stupid grin. He seemed pleased. He then looked over at the prisoner who was being dragged off.

_I hope this works._

_(To be continued…)_

A/N: I thought about changing names for the sake of fitting the story better, but last minute I chickened out. I thought it would be better if their names were what everyone was used to. : ) Anyway, I got this idea after the Hetaween event. This almost has nothing to do with their outfits now, which was how I originally planned it, but it's close enough. It will probably be about 2 or 3 more parts/chapters depending on where I want to take this.


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